Influencer Series: Susan Combs

Susan_Combs_Headshot_2014

Susan L. Combs is pretty remarkable. She began her entrepreneurial journey in 2005, forming her own company at age 26. She was encouraged by a mentor who believed that her tenacious spirit and “fixer” personality would shake things up in the insurance industry. Combs & Company, LLC, is a full service insurance brokerage firm that has an expertise on the “weird and unusual.” Leveraging a knack for addressing and solving difficult circumstances, Combs has become a go-to resource for those companies that don’t fit an insurance carrier’s typical profile, especially entertainment, food, and international companies setting up their first U.S. operation.

Additionally, Combs mentors members of Women in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS), an organization where she has served on the National Board since 2008 and currently sits as the youngest National President of the 79-year history of the organization.

The Distracted Executive: What would you say is your biggest distraction when you are working these days and what are you doing to address it?

Susan Combs: In addition to the business I own, I’m also the National President of Women in Insurance & Financial Services, so the biggest distraction I have right now is the multiple pulls on my time in multiple directions. One of the biggest things I do to address it is color block my calendar to show the following topics:  Mentoring, Networking, WIFS and Combs & Co – this way at a glance I can see if I need to shift items on my week to focus efforts in a different area.

TDE: What has become your greatest challenge around managing time? What is your very best practice for being as efficient as you are?

SC: My biggest distraction was getting derailed by phone calls. When I would be working on something for a client and another would call, it would take my focus away and also keep me in the office longer. About 3 years ago I started taking only scheduled calls, and this has helped tremendously! Not only has it given me more time in my day, but I no longer have the word “phonetag” in my vocabulary and it has elevated my rock star status ☺.

TDE: Prioritizing. Everything seems important or urgent these days. How do you efficiently navigate your to-do list without hindering your success?

SC: I treat everything the same. No matter if it’s work, board, personal or networking, however it comes in, I try to get the ball out of my court as quick as possible so then it is on the other person to do their part.

TDE: You manage people and work with some people who are all over the place. How do you deal with someone who is very distracted and not giving you what you need in a timely manner?

SC: I actually don’t deal with those people ☺.  If they are scattered and don’t focus, I get my staff to deal with them the best way possible.

TDE: How are you impacted by interruptions during the day? What is your #1 tip for dealing with them?

SC: I think the sheer volume of email and just client issues in general are the things that impact me the most.  One of the things I have started doing - since, many times, my staff members are on emails - is that when I get back into the office, I go through emails backwards.  I know that this means that someone that emailed most recently will get a response sooner than one that did say an hour ago, but I found that it cut down on confusion and double work. When I would start at the oldest and work my way to the newest I found myself responding to things that my staff had already handled. By reversing the process, it cuts down on double work and makes the office more efficient.

TDE: As an entrepreneur and rock star business owner,  what is the greatest challenge in your business today and what are you doing to address it?

SC: The 24/7 mentality that you should always be responding. As with anything, you have to train your clients.  My clients know that I won’t respond on weekends unless they put “Urgent” in the subject line.  They also know how to utilize my staff and trust that they will handle things as I would.

Thank you Susan for your candor and expertise!

If you want to get in touch with Susan, you can email her at scombs@combsandco.comor visit her company website here.

What Gets In Your Way?

How to stay on top of everything you have to do to build your business while simultaneously being pulled in a million directions

I was in sales. I am an entrepreneur. I am the quintessential distracted executive. I get it!

Information overload is one of the biggest distractions. We never quite feel like we know enough, and we always feel incomplete, like we are missing something. I think that one of the best things to do is get into the habit of routinely and consistently asking yourself a few simple questions and writing down the answers. Yes, writing.

For example, as a business owner you might want to ask yourself the following as you come into Q3.

WHAT IS YOUR SALES GOAL BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER?

WRITE IT DOWN.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN IN TERMS OF MAKING IT HAPPEN?

WRITE IT DOWN.

THINK ABOUT WHAT GETS IN YOUR WAY. (could be the condition of your desk, calendar etc.)

WRITE IT DOWN.

WHAT SYSTEM ARE YOU WORKING AND HOW IS IT WORKING?

WRITE IT DOWN.

The act of stopping and thinking and putting pen to paper is transformational. It is the first step to doing something about it.

RESOURCES TO DEAL WITH OVERWHELM AND DISTRACTION:

1. Need a plan. Mini actions.
2. Need to prioritize to stay out of overwhelm.
3. Need to block time, and commit to execution.

COMMITMENT

What ONE thing will you do differently in the next 12 weeks?

It's all about being purposeful and aware.

In this crazy distracted world of ours, stopping to ask yourself the right questions is mission critical.

Here's to your success!

Coach Nancy

Influencer Series: Conrad Strabone, Web Developer Extraordinaire

Conrad Strabone is a leading web strategist and developer with a career that goes back to New York City’s Silicon Alley in the late 1990's. In 2001, he founded and ran a successful software development company that sold in 2006. In 2007, Conrad felt a natural inclination toward helping smaller businesses, where he could leverage past successes and make a bigger difference, and thus, e9digital, a full-service, boutique, digital agency was born. The Distracted Executive: So, what would you say is your biggest distraction when you are working these days and what do you do about it?

Conrad Strabone: I think the biggest distraction for me is e-mail. I probably get hundreds of e-mails per day. And what I do about it when I need to get some concentrated work done is I just shut off the e-mail and shut off the phone. There’s nothing that is life or death in this business. The fact that somebody waits there for me for a couple of hours won’t really affect anything. If there’s a website problem, we have other people here that they can reach out that would deal with that.

And, the other thing is setting expectations so that if I'm offline I have an auto-responder saying that I’m not answering e-mails this morning and will get back to you. If you set expectations so people know when you’re going to be offline on vacation,they seem to be OK. It is being respectful.

TDE: It’s really about expectations and boundaries.

CS: That’s true. There’s constant connectivity with your cellphone and your text and your e-mail, and people expect instant communication, so I think it’s just good to set expectations where possible. If there’s something urgent, well, let’s talk about it. We’ll deal with it. But if it’s not urgent, how about we talk on Tuesday?

TDE: Okay. So, what would you say has become your greatest challenge around managing time? Or even better, what do you notice regarding your clients’ challenges around managing time these days?

CS: There are no surprises, and there’s communication and the expectations are where they are, and the consequences for not doing it are very clear.

TDE: And so even people who are not time-challenged probably have an easy time working with you because of your process.

CS: It makes it easier for them, but it’s still something we work on everyday: improving our process of managing clients. It is an iterative process. I’ve been doing this almost 20 years, and it’s still not perfected, and it never will be. So it doesn’t become overwhelming. We don’t have to worry about the whole thing at once. We just have to go step by step by step.

So, I guess what would be helpful for your readers is that you map out your process, and be clear about what it is.

TDE: Okay. So, prioritizing is a big issue. Today, everything seems important or urgent. How do you efficiently navigate your to-do list without hindering your success?

CS: I work on that every day. We have a nice project management and cash tracking systems in place so, number one, having the right tools is helpful. I realize that I can’t do everything that needs to be done in a given day, so what I basically do every morning is look at the list and go: what absolutely has to be done today? What would be nice to get done today? And what can be pushed off to another day?

And so, I’m constantly looking at the task queue and, if something doesn’t need to be done today, it’s fine, I’m going to use the brain power to do something. You know what? That’s not that important; it can wait another day. So, it’s not really procrastinating as it is that you know you have limited capacity.

TDE: It’s prioritizing. And you’re looking at it every day, it’s not like you’re avoiding it.

CS: Right.

TDE: You’re looking at your inventory every day.

CS: I look at that task list and say, these are the seven things that need to get done today. If I have a little more time, I could do these five other things. These remaining twenty things are not going to get done today; I’ll move them to a future day and revisit them then. So, it’s a constant shuffling.

TDE: How are you impacted by interruptions during the day, and what’s your number one tip for dealing with them?

CS: I think it’s just about having your boundaries and your priorities set. If somebody runs into the room and they’re on fire, you've got to get the water and put them out. But other than that, it's rare that something needs to be dealt with right now. I think that it is important to understand that 99.9% of things don’t need to be done at this particular second. I say "Listen, I could talk to you at 2:30. I could talk to you tomorrow at 1:00." And it works just fine.

TDE: So, as an entrepreneur and basically overall successful guy, what’s the greatest challenge in your business today, and what are you doing to address it?

CS: The greatest challenge in my business today is managing my people, personnel. We go through a hundred résumés to find one person that we feel is qualified to work on our team. So I think hiring well and managing people and keeping your people happy is important. Everything else we do - the computers and all that - it’s all inexpensive, relatively speaking. Managing talent is the key thing - preserving and developing our human capital. My thing has always been try to hire the absolute best that I could afford and then empower them to do their job and be there to support them, answer their questions and lead.

TDE: Conrad… Thanks for this wonderful insight. You did a fabulous job creating my website so I know first-hand that you are a true professional. The process was just as impressive as the product.

If anyone wants a great website or facelift on what you have, don’t hesitate to contact e9digital.

Have an aggravation-free day!

-Coach Nancy

White Space on the Calendar is Prime Real Estate!

I have been a big proponent of white space on the calendar for as long as I can remember.

What is white space?

White space is the space on your calendar that allows you to breathe, pause, think, be creative and make good decisions. I am a calendar girl, all about scheduling and planning for sure. My calendar is usually pretty full with tasks, appointments, places to be, etc. I LOVE when I look at it and see a chunk of white space... By definition: time that has not been allocated to anything!

How glorious.

Or conversely, what does it feel like (and probably more relevant these days with overflowing inboxes and incessant demands) when we look at our calendar, and there is NO white space? I often feel suffocated, stressed, overwhelmed and tired. For me, it means I need to evaluate what is on there and probably start creating some white space in order to function optimally.

Sometimes that means rescheduling appointments. Sometimes, as Warren Buffett says: "You've gotta keep control of your time, and you can't unless you say no." It involves thinking and planning for sure.

So start to factor a little bit of white space into your life. Think of it as a strategic pause. Open, uncommitted time that allows choice and think time (another lost art form). And remember that when there is open time on the calendar it is quite OK.

If you start to be aware and mindful and give yourself permission to do it, you will:

• Feel better overall
• Reduce stress for sure
• Breathe
• Absolutely feel more productive

Who knows? You might even feel happier.

Have a white space kinda day!

Coach Nancy

Influencer Series: Sean O'Rourke

Sean O’Rourke is the president of Syzygy 3, Inc., a technology consulting and services firm headquartered in New York City. Working in various elements of technology for almost 20 years, Sean has developed a keen appreciation for the costs and benefits of emerging IT solutions, and how both impact small and mid-sized businesses. In this interview, The Distracted Executive speaks with O'Rourke about efficiency, priorities and what he considers to be a "productive distraction."

The Distracted Executive: What would you say is your biggest distraction when you are working these days, and what are you doing to address it?

Sean O'Rourke: Client calls/emails and the Internet! Given the nature of our business – technology consulting, services, and support – client calls/emails requesting support or to discuss their IT are rarely scheduled. Every one of our clients’ businesses runs on their installed technology, which means an IT hiccup becomes a disruptive event for their business. So when the email or call comes, it has to be addressed (and resolved) as quickly as possible. Whatever else I may have planned for the day or want to do – except for scheduled meetings – takes a backseat when a client requires immediate attention. While client contacts are an unplanned disruption, I’ve turned the Internet into a planned distraction. There’s a lot going on in our industry and the world in general, so staying informed is an important requirement. Plus, I like to read and learn new things as often as possible. Starting about 18 months ago, I developed a schedule by which every workday, while I’m in the office, I work straight through for 90-120 minutes and then taken a 10-minute break to read something online. Doesn’t matter what it’s about; this is a mental break to do something that refreshes my brain. Plus, that reading turns into Tweets, a Facebook post (on our corporate page), or fodder for our next blog posting. It’s a productive distraction.

TDE: What has become your greatest challenge around managing time? What is your very best practice for being as efficient as you are?

SO: Saying no is and has always been the biggest time management obstacle. As a small business owner, you get this niggling voice in the back of your head that says if you decline a networking event, or a 1-on-1 meeting, or some other opportunity to meet people, then you’re passing up your next big prospect/opportunity. It’s the paranoia of the “what if”. No matter how successful your business, I think the ability to say no has the greatest impact on how you manage your schedule. To me, the calendar – electronic or paper – is the key to time management. My business and personal time revolves around what I put in my calendar. There has been many a time where I’ve told people, “If it’s not in my calendar, then it doesn’t exist.” (Sounds tongue-in-cheek, but it’s not.) Primarily, the calendar keeps me on point in terms of what I need to accomplish each day, which includes all in-person meetings/events. It also helps folks in my company and family to keep track of what I’m doing, where I’ll be, and what is available to squeeze into my schedule.

TDE: Prioritizing. Everything seems important or urgent these days. How do you efficiently navigate your to-do list without hindering your success?

SO: Strictly from a work perspective, whatever generates revenue gets prioritized. From there, it’s broken into work that requires my immediate attention (support/project work) vs. those that have a little more lead time (prospect calls/emails, writing proposals/quotes). Everything else is secondary and gets scheduled based on due date or when there are openings in my calendar.

TDE: How are you impacted by interruptions during the day? What is your #1 tip for dealing with them?

SO: Distractions are inevitable, and in some cases, necessary. That said, unless you have the discipline to work with virtual blinders on, I would suggest figuring out your distraction triggers and minimizing those. Silence your cell phone, and turn it over so you can’t see the display. Turn off email notifications (sounds, icons, etc.) on your computer. Put your office phone on "do not disturb." Don’t open your Internet browser(s). These are the most common we see, but whatever yours might be, there are ways to minimize them, and maximize your attention span.

TDE: As an entrepreneur and very successful business owner, what is the greatest challenge in your business today and what are you doing to address it?

SO: Consistent growth of the business, which includes revenue, employees, efficiencies, new offerings and a myriad of other elements. We started the company in 2004, so we’re a mature small business. And while we take pride in our laurels, we don’t think they’re enough. There’s more we want to accomplish, so finding ways to further the business so as to accomplish these new goals is the primary challenge we face on a day-to-day basis.

A special thanks to Sean for a great interview and his ability to be open and “tell it like it is.”

I know for a fact that he does terrific work and hope that my readers will check Syzygy 3, Inc. out when it comes to their IT needs. They are an amazing resource.

In the meantime, as always, have a productive day!

Coach Nancy